Nikon 70-300mm F/4-5.6G with Tripod

Shooting big monkey is tough job! Especially when they keep moving around some twenty meters over your head. But with all the patience I can muster, I manage to finally get this Orang Utan's attention.

Full tripod shot together with my Manfrotto 190XB, fused with timer shot, all on an almost ideal condition. If you ask me, this may be the best quality I can squeeze out of this lens. Anything sharper, you have to upgrade to the Nikkor's $1300 AF VR Zoom 80-400mm F/4.5-5.6D ED! Or maybe, the Nikkor AF-S Nikkor 300mm F/4 IF-ED at $1000?

Field Trip with Nikon 70-300mm F/4-5.6G

In the usual tradition, I would vigorously shoot with a specific lens for a month and attempt to be familiarize with its capability and short coming. This implies going around making a few field trips.

Yesterday was the day at the national zoo park and I bring you a few selective shots, baselining that the Nikkor 70-300mm indeed can deliver in specific conditions - bright sunny day with tripod. Not exactly very robust but a reasonable oversight for such a cheap lens.

The above shot was shot handheld though...click on it to see in full size.

Canon's Strength & Focus - Explained

In studying the full range of Canon's catalog and their products, I came to realize one significant discovery (apology of being slow here) - Canon has a much wider selection of lens and has a much superior range collection. Take for example Canon's lead in offering the Pro's series EF 28-300mm F/3.5-5.6L IS USM (recently, I was told Canon extended their lead with a EF 28-400mm lens lineup!)

Nikon has been doing a lot of catch up recently and is determined to vaporize this gap. Its an interesting match not to be missed. As far as photography and camps go, I am but a consumer, taking the best among the pack.

Nikon D90 is indeed a ground-breaking piece of hardware and warrants its praise and long-term use. Not many rival DSLR (e.g. Canon 50D, Sigma SD15, Sony A700) even come close to its superiority.

Web Site Promising "Black Belt" in Photography Skills

In my relentless quest in surfing the world wide web, a site promising killer competency in photography should you visit it frequently [here].

Hai Yaah! Take that you incompetent studio teacher! Here comes Camera Dojo!

Sorry Canon & Sony - Nikon D90 Rocks!

In an independent lab test conducted by DxO lab, a collection of three similar tier cameras were benchmarked.

The test result is shown in the table above.

Need I say more?

I encourage you to visit DxO lab as it allows me to discover that indeed, Nikon D300 overall performance is still lower than Nikon D90!

Nikon to Make New Product Announcement in April 2009

Stay focus and don't let any new products rock your nerve.

Repeat the following 10 times over lunch:

"You already have one of the most advanced digital SLR in the world. You don't need to upgrade! You already have one of the most advanced digital SLR in the world. You don't need to upgrade!"

Enough said.

Contingency Plan to Derive Dramatic Images Always

So what if all pre-preparation is not possible and you do not have the luxury of key accessories like those professionals? You do one last thing - post processing with software.

Some call it cheating but it opens a whole new dimension to us amauteurs!

I did cover the very basic workflow of Aperture sometime back and I think I will seriously review them again. All we need is to shoot in pure RAW format on the Nikon D90. Let Aperture do the rest. For non-mac folks, you can always use Photoshop to accomplish stirring results! Nikon Capture NX is a good tool too.

In fact, some advices to use both!

We shall see to that. Also, I think its the trend to recap an actual HDR exercise too to add to the drama of the shot (see above image).

Tips I Discovered to Improve Shoot Quality - Part III

Alternatively, if you are set to visit a particular site, either for leisure or work, pre-preparation will become mandatory. Such work will gradually assume into your improved photographer's mindset and you are then able to perform location assessment almost on the spot and be able to improvise.

Of course, the degree of improvisation is directly related to the type and availability of your gear list, which I believe is quite limited at the moment. Take for example Nikon's DVD show-casing Joe Mcnally's shoot at a ballet school, boat dock etc. Hey, he has to use up to twelve Nikon speedlights to shoot that boat dock scene! I am not too sure how many of you readers have a ready truckload of lenses, flashes, reflectors etc. So, pre-preparation with your very limited lenses (I have only 3 of them) and tools are wisdom well heeded.

If you have been to that site, its a bonus to run through the spot where you can take advantage of, for the objective shoot. If not, I am not too sure how much improvisation can we amateurs cook up on-site.

Tips I Discover to Improve Shoot Quality - Part II

I sincerely believe in this - to move beyond our (or just mine) current standard in photography, we have to turn on our imagination...a lot more. Its what I consider truly in the realm of art then. You may call it the state of the art. You have to visualize the "wow!" scene you want to tell the world.

To achieve this, you must first confirm what story you would like to tell, and not capture moments of life that pass you by. You must imagine and self-visualize the final picture well before it is taken by your Nikon D90. With that, you then fill in the blanks. You find the subjects, places, people, backdrop that will give you that preconceived scene. And you compose it and press that shutter release button till you get that effect you imagined with flashes, natural lights, shadows etc.

Only then would I believe that we have finally taken that first step into professional photography.

I have not seen a book telling you this very vital truth.

Would you agree?

Tips I Discover To Improve Shoot Quality - Part I

You see, all along, I haven been bringing along my Nikon D90 to take pictures wherever I tend to go each day, hoping to catch that special moments that may present itself to me. You can say that's how I approach photography till today.

The need to imagine and visualize a scene is almost absent. I simply perform a change of lens - to get different DOF effects, or tilt the camera in an appropriate angle that gives the subject more appeal. Maybe, bounced flashes were used sparringly, and oftentimes, its where I have to go that constitutes the scenes I display on my gallery.

That's all fine. But the images are quite ordinary, with almost predictive results, turning the gallery into another family album. Well, if its simply for a memorable, historical account of our family life, I think its perfectly fine since the Nikon D90 dwarfs those images captured with my iPhone or other phone optics by many miles.

But what happen if we want to move beyond this so-called standard of photography?

Setting Nikon D2X Picture Control Into Nikon D90

Sorry, guys. I thought I could beat the system by trying to upload the Nikon D2X Picture Control onto the Nikon D90 but in my review, the custom picture control file extension created by Nikon D90 has a different extension file *.NCP while the one downloaded from the Nikon web site of Nikon D2X has a *.NOP file extension!

Nevertheless, when attempting to load those files, the Nikon D90 could not detect those 3 custom picture control files meant for the Nikon D300.

But again, some affirms that those custom picture control files are redundant as

D2X mode I is the same as Portrait
D2X mode II is the same as Neutral
D2X mode III is the same as Vivid

O well, at least now we know!

Image Quality with Nikon Fieldscope ED82 and Nikon DSLR

This is basically shot at 1000mm with the $1600 (including DSLR adapter FSA-L1) fieldscope combo. Convinced with the cost-effectiveness of this gadget? I am kinda sold. However, apart from birds, what else can we actually shoot the fieldscope combo?

A fine Nikon 500mm telezoom lens will easily cost three to four times of that.

Nikon Fieldscope ED82 In Action With Nikon D200

Nikon Gear at 50% OFF!

For all Nikon enthusiasts wanting your Nikon embossed softshell, rush down to the Nikon Pro apparel online shop at get your gears at 50% OFF!

Hurry while stock last at this clearance sale...

Click [here] to start shopping!

Mandatory Digiscope Nikon D90 Accessories - Nikon FSA-L1

You will need one of this to fulfill your childhood dream! Warning - Will put a $300 dent on your bank account for this adapter alone!

Digiscoping with Nikon D90

Want to view and shoot like a hawk? Frankly, the furthest telephoto zoom lenses are but 600mm and they weight/cost a ton! And if shooting wildlife is your primary concern, why not think out of the box and shoot with a Nikon Field scope instead?

Its like shooting as a sniper, reinvigorating the boyish days we dream to join the Military Sniper School.

How's shooting at 1500mm focal length sound to you? Nikon ED82A is what you need! The Nikon ED III is not a bad choice either.

Sigma EF-530 DG Super Flash for Nikon D90?

Perhaps, I have not fully appreciated Sigma lenses at this point in time with my Nikon D90 but there's nothing really to stop me from evaluating her top-of-the-line flash - Sigma EF-530DG Super?

Priced at a Nikon Speedlight SB-600, perhaps, its a value buy?

So, here it is, my next agenda to accomplish and share with all.

Check back soon.

Nikon D90 Bayer-filter Image Sensor Versus Sigma Foveon X3 Sensor

With my recent visit to Sigma local office, I've got the opportunity to review the flagship DSLR of Sigma - Sigma SD14. What differentiates this DSLR is the sensor type found in the camera. Unlike what every non-Sigma DSLR manufacturers use, Sigma acquired and uses the Foveon X3 image sensor that boasts 100% capability to capture ALL RGB color on each pixel of the sensor.

The Sigma SD14 catalog sample shots are astounding but are what I suspect, "touched-up" copy of the original photo with the Sigma Photo Pro 3.0 software. Makes me wonder how those Flickr images on the Internet orginally look like...average I would say.

Technically and theoretically, I believe the Foveon X3 is a superior technology, but realistically, Sigma just could not deliver a complete package, having the result marred with higher noise at high ISO. That aside, Foveon's low-light performance are seen superior to the Bayer-filter implementations.

Who knows? Maybe, with a proper lab, it can be perfected?

Photographer Spotlight - Kirsten Gallon

Heard of her? I have not too, but what surprises me was the most basic lenses that she uses, and the excellent images she is churning out online. According to Ken, she uses the very basic 70-300mm G lens too and I am quietly assured again that its not really about the camera body or lens but the inspiration within the photographer that makes the real difference.

Check her site out [here] and be amazed.

Shoot Counter - 1000 Per Month Since 1st Nov 2008

So here is my current counter on my Nikon D90 - 5000. Boy, that's only a fraction (5%) of her specified shuttle endurance!! How's that possible? Ha...remember the backpack I recommended a while back? I am now bringing my camera almost wherever I go! (Thankfully, I have a vehicle too)

For the last five months, I am shooting at an average of approximately 30 images per day.

Remember, practice makes perfect!